October 2: El Orfanato (The Orphanage) (2007)

What a recovery from my October 1 movie. El Orfanato (2007) is probably my favorite Guillermo del Toro film. Pan's Labyrinth wasn't my thing. Hell Boy was...Hell Boy. And I haven't seen much else of his work.

A lot of folks compare The Orphanage to The Others (2001). I haven't seen Others in a long time, but I recall a lot of the acclaim stemming from that "big twist" ending. You know, the Bruce-Willis-Sixth-Sense finale. You get it; the Alec-Baldwin-Beetlejuice-Epiphany.

Now we're on the same page.

Orphanage's "twist(s)" prove to be tightly woven into the storyline. From start to finish, it delivers an eerie thriller with a lot of mysteries. Whats most impressive is del Toro's ability to recover so quickly from the film's devastating climax, ending as a feel-good, spooky fairytale.

I was reminded of New Nightmare (1994) in a curious way. The relationship between protagonist Mother & Son, and the Mother's reluctance to play the child's game in order to solve the mystery. Additionally, New Nightmare has that "fairytale" throwback to Hansel and Gretel. The Orphanage's references to Peter Pan's "Neverland" make for an interesting analogy; you never grow old in the afterlife.

Watch the trailer for El Orfanato (2007) after the cut.